Syria | Abdulsalam Atto | 2024

Please stay

Please stay,
let the war start to slumber
and the graves rest.

Dilber Çıray | 2024

Newroz Fire

Early in the morning, around five, the mothers rushed
to Newroz Square with their white headscarves.

Turkey | Rahmetullah Berxwedan Andan | 2024

Tolstoy

The guide for my story was Tolstoy, who wished for a bisiklêt.
For 70 years, Leo Tolstoy yearned for the joy of cycling.
So what am I waiting for?

Turkey | Fevzi Çetin | 2024

Story of fire

As children, we grew up
With our mothers’ stories:
The stories about the sacred fire,
They made our days colourful and alive.

Turkey | Rahmetullah Berxwedan Andan | 2024

The seal

The screaming
The wailing
Falls into our faces with our hair
For us nothing remains
But pain

Turkey | Bahadȋn Akhan | 2024

The old woman’s resting place

Home sweet home, happiness alone,
as we say,
when the spirit has left the body.

Syria | Abdulsalam Atto | 2024

When I came into the world

When I was born,
they whispered in Arabic
the name of God
into my ear.

Turkey | Fevzi Çetin | 2024

The Missing

The smell of the trees in our garden
The smell of the rocks in the mountains
The smell of the streets in our homeland
The streets in which we are killed, day after day

Turkey | Nesîbe Gûneylî | 2023

The Time of the Sun

The shadow of those who have left us
is cast on those left behind.
Their face is not to be seen in the sun,
nor that of those who are gone.

Turkey | Sozdar Jafarzadeh | 2023

My Mother’s Suitcase

We came with just a small suitcase,
one small suitcase for five children.
In the suitcase their home sewn white headscarves, socks, pictures,
regret, sorrow, separation, fear, memories, and hope.

Turkey | Leyla Akyildiz | 2023

Assimilation

In this world I am a refugee.
There is no place for me here.
Every word is foreign to me,
every sound is alien.

Iran | Hêro Khosrawi | 2023

Resuscitation

My spirit buckles under the pressure
that holds it prisoner, leadens it down.

Turkey | Rahmetullah Berxwedan Andan | 2023

My Story

My story began before I was even born.
On the day my mother started to talk,
my story began too.

Syria | Abdulsalam Atto | 2023

Greetings in the Heart

Greetings in the heart
are like red wine.
I have no one to share with.

Syria | Abdulsalam Atto | 2023

Peace is Hungry

The smile on my face is fake,
war is master of my thoughts.
Autumn’s clad in raiment of winter,
the future takes on a gloomy shape.

Turkey | Bahadȋn Akhan | 2023

alaname

When I am weary of the story of solitude,
your face jewels my dream.
Your face is the conclusion of my existence.

Turkey | Bahadȋn Akhan | 2023

The Word Witch

Mother’s forlorn dream
damns us.
So we wail with our first breath.
The yellow steppe peoples
sutured my lips,
turned speech into a personal poison.

Spenden!